Hidden Bricks: Providence Academy research and pre-game

Continuing our journey into Hidden Bricks, the importance of the Providence Academy to the founding of the Hidden Brick Company and even the city of Vancouver, Washington itself cannot be overstated. 

Gee, I can't imagine this place is rumored to be haunted.

Built in 1873, when it was erected the Providence Academy was the largest brick building north of San Francisco. Now, the Historic Trust actually claims that Mother Joseph TAUGHT Lowell Hidden how to make bricks!

Nope, not creepy at all.

"By 1871, Mother Joseph had secured the resources needed to start construction of the Academy on a seven-acre parcel of land located just outside the west entrance of what had become the first U.S. Army post in the Pacific Northwest with the change to American ownership in 1849. She designed the building and supervised its construction, even teaching a man named Lowell Hidden, who later founded the Hidden Brick Company, to make the one million bricks needed for the project." (More here: Historic Trust History)

Records in the Hidden file at the historical museum repeat the story that Mother Joseph herself asked L. M. Hidden to found a brick company to make the bricks for her grand vision.

Somewhere along the way the project soured, and there was a rumored disagreement that ended up with some of the bricks said to be cursed. A brief Columbian Newspaper article discussing the rumored haunting and the supposed "curse" placed on the bricks:

"The building was built with bricks from the old Hidden Brickyard. 'The story goes that it ended up more expensive to make the bricks than Mother Joseph originally contracted for, so Hidden tried to up the price, and Mother Joseph refused and made them honor the contract,' Maureen said. 'So the story is that the bricks are cursed.' (see: Here)

Who was Mother Joseph?

Born in 1823 Quebec, Canada as Esther Pariseau, she was the first female architect in British Columbia, and she was so important to the state of Washington a statue of her is one of the two representing Washington State in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington DC. She named herself Sister Joseph after her father. She was a really big deal in these parts. 

In 1856 Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, the bishop of the new Diocese of Nesqually (now the Archdiocese of Seattle), approached the Sisters of Providence in Montreal.  Mother Joseph was chosen to lead four companions as missionaries to the Pacific NW Territories region. 

From Wikipedia:

"A small cabin served as both their convent and first school, which opened 14 April 1857. They accepted into their care several orphans and an elderly man who was homeless. Bishop Blanchet gave them two acres on the St. James Mission Claim, and on this land a small group of multi-purpose buildings sprang up. The Sisters named their new home Providence of the Holy Angels. Over the next few years, it housed the convent, novitiate, and infirmary, an orphanage for both boys and girls, a boarding and day school, rooms for the elderly and insane and the first St. Joseph Hospital. The Sisters also cared for the clergy of St. James Cathedral, as well as visiting the poor and sick in their homes."

Mother Joseph's statue in Washington DC. Her tools are at her feet. Photo credit Wikipedia, public domain.

Mother Joseph was responsible for the completion of eleven hospitals, seven academies, five schools for Native American children, and two orphanages throughout an area that now encompasses Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. The State of Washington celebrates her birthday as an official state holiday on April 16, 1999. She was also inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Yee-haw! Mother Joseph died from a brain tumor in 1902 and is buried in nearby Mother Joseph Cemetery (St. James Acres). 

The nonprofit Historic Trust purchased the Providence Academy in 2015 for $5 million, with the final price tag for the expected decade long renovation to be around $15 million. The first rounds of upgrades have included work on the roof, heating/cooling and electrical systems. To cover these costs, the Trust sold 3.85 acres of parking lot space to an Oregon based development company. Marathon Acquisition and Development plans on turning this into 134 apartments with a 4,000 rooftop terrace, a development called the Aegis. 

Part of the old Academy used to be the El Presidente Mexican restaurant. It was demolished in 2019 after being closed for three years to make room for the apartments that are part  of the controversial development plan for the area. The Academy was built in the 1873 but the restaurant itself was built about a century later of local materials (Hidden bricks) on Academy grounds yet wasn't technically a historic building. Despite that, an archaeologist was on site for the restaurant's demolition. 

Here's a photo of what it looked like when they were getting ready to do the demolition. The restaurant is in the foreground by the firetrucks, with the Academy in the background:

The area where the restaurant used to stand is designed to be a public plaza in the Aegis project. The Hidden bricks from the restaurant were saved and cleaned by Portland's Rebuilding Center and will be used in or on the new Aegis buildings in red brick masonry to compliment the Hidden bricks of the Academy. So, basically in a few years there will be some new apartments available for rent that use Hidden bricks in the community. When can I move in?(For more, see Here!)

There are some really great photos in the Providence Image Gallery of the Hiddens and the grounds: Providence Archives - Hidden.

Here's the really exciting news: Dave and I are going to be officially touring the grounds and hopefully will be able to take photos inside. Yep, we're going in the oldest Hidden Brick structure still standing, it's haunted as hell and rumored to be cursed.

AWESOME.

Also awesome was snagging some 1871-1905 OG Hiddens (obviously reclaimed, old mortar traces) for a few bucks at an antique store downtown.

...and because I've lost my mind completely over antique bricks and continue to be surprised by things surrounding them (yet another surprise regarding the found brick from nowhere currently unfolding, stay tuned), I added one to my altar. Why not? (Another brilliant A.P. Strange suggestion.) Chaos witching for the win.

All Hail Brick Mojo!

The same day I booked the Providence Academy tour I went in search of any remaining of the plum trees the Hidden Family planted in 26th and Main.

From The Columbian:

What I found was an entirely different sort of tree, and a dead end.

Red Oaks at Main and Fourth Plain (the Street formerly known as 26th)

The person at the historical museum let me know that the 1960s were brutal to downtown buildings, and that's why basically the only Hidden brick buildings still standing are preserved because the Hiddens themselves owned them. The city went crazy razing the old city and much was lost.

Additionally, I have discovered another stamped local brick that I believe to be a Hidden brick as well, as local people have been digging the two stamped styles up together. There's one on eBay for a ridiculous price, but it provided the info that this is stamped with the "Brick Manufacturers Association" logo. I hear there's a few up the road in Felida I can go check out.

Oh... it will be mine.

Where I discovered they were local? A Facebook group I'd been in for years and even posted in. Another fun synchro was when I actually looked at their group head:

This group also had another really interesting tidbit I'm hoping to verify:

Hidden Bricks: 26th and Kaufmann Hidden Brickyard, Multiple Synchronicities

Before we dive into what happened at the Brickyard, I want to take a minute to give a shout out to my dude A.P. Strange, fellow Liminal.Earth Ambassador and Twitter Bestie for dropping some amazing knowledge on me.

Because he has a huge brain, he had a lot to say about what exactly is in the clay. Before I share A.P.'s thoughts, this is a good time to talk about that break after the Urban Barnhouse, as it involves My friend A.P. himself becoming part of this saga with an interesting Synchronicity.

As mentioned, after quickly leaving the Urban Barnhouse yesterday when feeling unsettled, we decided to shake off some bad mojo by taking a brief Vomit Hunt break.

One of the weird things I collect is old resin from the 1960s forward with random chunks of things inside. My favorite pieces look like actual puke. Anyway, there was a vintage store between the Urban Barnhouse and the Clark County Historical Museum/Carnegie Library. Vintage stores tend to feel "noisy" to me energetically anyway, so it was a perfect opportunity to look for vomit and shake off some bad vibes.

The shopping trip paid off, but what was interesting is one of the two things I snapped up was an old book on Houdini. I wasn't entirely sure that A.P. was into Houdini, but I thought I remembered him being super into him so I picked it up for a ridiculously low price. It ended up being a first edition. He had been looking for it for years.

I found a vomit ashtray that fits my old MGM Grand Hotel ashtray as well. Like I said, good store trip.

Additionally, A.P. was just gifted an art piece by another friend of ours, Mark Obscura, that was supposed to help him acquire rare books, A.P.'s obsession. I would say this worked. Ha! The weird/wyrd continues to make itself known in personal, strange synchronistic ways that aren't Earth shattering but powerfully validating for the souls involved. I love it!!!

On to A.P's thoughts about the bricks.

Remember, from part one of my series on these bricks:

"Hidden Brick Co., at 2610 Kaufmann Ave, Vancouver, Wash., uses a loamy alluvial silt that overlies the gravelly phase of the lacustrine deposits. Only the upper few feet of the surface materials is used for raw material at this plant. it is probably alluvial silt deposited during the downcutting of the lacustrine deposits, with perhaps some admixed colluvium" (p 106 - taken from "Geology of Portland, Oregon and Adjacent Areas: US Geological Survey Bulletin 1119," Trimble, D.E, 1963)."

What does this mean as far as my theory for the bricks themselves contributing to the hauntings in these buildings?

In discussing the pre-game plan before I headed out Saturday, he was brought up to speed on my theory that the Hidden bricks may be contributing to these hauntings. He had a lot to say about it:

"You realize that silt is at least partially composed of ground up and fossilized organic matter - bones and petrified bits of flora and fauna from a bygone age. In the case of alluvial silt, flora and fauna from the Pliocene epoch. This would be the time of early hominids such as Australopithicus. So Hidden bricks are composed at least partially of fossilized remains of the earliest human ancestors that we know of."

Or, you know, literal EARLY HOMINID GHOST BRICKS. (Sasquatch Ghost Bricks?!) About ourancestors: Australopithecus. Thanks for weighing in, A.P.!.!

Our final stop Saturday was 26th and Kaufmann, the site of the second Hidden Brick Factory, closed in 1992. The brickyard is fenced in, and we did not walk inside any of the fenced off areas. This should go without saying, but PLEASE DO NOT TRESPASS HERE OR ANYWHERE ELSE in the name of paranormal investigation!!

I took a brief video of the area, on Kaufmann. You can see that here, we found some old paths where loading and unloading obviously happened in the area.

When I am taking the above video I note stacks of Hidden Bricks inside the yard, mention longingly how much I would like to get my hands on one but I'm not going to break and enter and you know, steal.

This becomes important about a half hour later.

Oh, I see you, stacks of Hidden Bricks. 

I kept going back to this building. I'm not sure what happened in here but it feels eerie.

All abandoned places have a strange vibe to them, but this one feels even creepier. I meant to take soil samples from the public areas just outside the fence line and ... I forgot. This is the second location today I set out for that I ended up not doing what I planned to do and leaving early after feeling weird.

Basically my entire purpose for tracking down where they dug out the clay was forgotten and abandoned. Okay then.

I climbed on an area across the street from the Brickyard to be able to see further back in the yard and had a minor slip (only pride injured haha) on the wet wood coming down so Dave made me wrap it up there. We were within 10 blocks of a park called Hidden Park, and so before he grounded me totally for the day we made one last stop.

A few blocks away from the park I noticed lots of Hidden Bricks on many houses in the general area approaching the park. I hadn't looked into the homes around here, but the Hidden stamp was literally everywhere.

I asked him to park the car a few blocks from the park as there were lots of cool houses with Hidden Bricks and I wanted to walk by a few on the way. Spotting them is my new favorite game.

Somewhere in the 30s and Kaufmann we took a random alley towards Hidden Park. On the ground, upside down next to some other random rocks, a board and few cans that obviously had been pulled out of the recycle bin next to the dumpster in the alley was 3/4 of a red brick.

Because I am out specifically looking for red bricks I turn it over and it says "IDDEN" on the underside.

I say "Oh shut the f*ck up!" to Dave, who is about half a block further up Kaufmann than I am and he turns around. I'm already muttering, "Where's the rest?" as he helps me move the recycle and garbage bin out of the way, where I then find the part of the brick stamped "H".

There were at least a dozen homes in a few blocks with significant amount of Hidden Bricks used in the construction of the homes itself, landscaping around the homes, etc. Collectible stamped bricks that are in good condition sell for around $10 and up in antique stores, so I am not sure if someone took this from a nearby home, dropped it and then abandoned it in the alley as it could no longer be sold or how it ended up next to dumpster. The moss shows it was outside for a while before it ended up smashed on Kaufmann.

Technically we are blocks from the stacks I saw and joked about stealing from inside the brickyard also. It could have come from anywhere. I guess I have good brick karma.

But... I, a witch who headed out on this journey wondering why I didn't want to grind up my own purchased Hidden Brick into dust for spiritual purposes know what to do with a very old, broken brick.

So I took him home, scrubbed him up, and am allowing him to spend time with his reunited brick brother before I turn him into a respected spiritual tool. I also feel irrationally attached to this brick, but will use as it intended as it appears to be already breaking down. Thanks again, Hidden Family.

This brick is one of the original hand molded ones, again you can tell by the back. It is the same process as my 1871 brick, meaning this brick is also prior to 1905 when the new wire method was employed.

I learned from spending time in the Hidden Bricks room at the Clark County Historical Museum what the wire cut bricks that began in 1905 look like on the back:

Anyway, Hidden Park is no big deal, it's just a small little green space (1.2 acres) in an alley near 38th and Kaufmann with some equipment for kids to play on. However, if we hadn't gone looking for it, I would have not found an abandoned broken Hidden Brick next to a dumpster in a surrounding alley.

I figured I used all my good brick mojo for the day and called it a day. I'm nowhere near done with these bricks, however. I mean, they are all over the place.

Planned deep dives coming on:

• Providence Academy - a local ghost story claims the bricks there are "cursed" due to a disagreement about cost of the building between the Hiddens and Mother Joseph!
• Brickhouse Bar & Grill - one of the things I learned about the Hiddens is that they were very anti alcohol. Wonder if the fact that their old brick factory and offices is used for a Bar and Grill contributes to the activity there. I've been inside several times watching bands but not paying attention to the bricks. The strangest thing about that place is while it is a new, modern bar and grill, the decor and vibe in there could literally be from 1980 to Present. It sort of has a "beyond time" retro feel inside and I'm wondering if the bricks contribute.
• "Terrible Tilly" - The Tillamook Lighthouse, constructed from Hidden bricks. I've been interested in this site for a while as I had a strange experience involving photographing the lighthouse with my fathers antique camera. The running joke is Terrible Tilly killed my camera. Haven't thought about that in years. 

Hidden Bricks: Carnegie Library/Clark County Historical Museum

Feeling unsettled after the funky energy of the Urban Barnhouse, Dave and I took a brief detour to a vintage store (this will end up becoming an amusing sidenote later) before heading to the Carnegie Library, now housing the Clark County Historical Museum.

After obtaining a couple of treasures from another time, we headed down the block to the Museum. Records inside reveal the library cost $10,000 to build.

Of course, of all the treasures housed in it's Hidden brick walls, the display I was most interested in was inside the Hidden Brick room itself.

One of the original wood molds

I geeked out SO HARD. The museum itself is on the site of an old Hidden clay pit. 

Here's a 360 Video View to the Hidden Brick Room inside. It can be rented out for events:

The treasures in the basement include a thick file on the Hidden family, which I flipped through in its entirety. It includes term papers written by students, a hand typed family history, and even funeral programs for family members. Historical museums are jewels of the community and wherever you live you should make friends with yours.

The Oracle has positive things to say here also:

Some of the peeks into the Hidden family history were really fascinating. I really enjoyed the old ads:

Robert Hidden wanted to be buried with a Hidden brick:

Robert Hidden died in 1992 at the age of 82. He was a devout Methodist. I hope he had a Hidden brick alongside him, as per his last request.

After the great Seattle fire of 1889, Hidden bricks were used to help reconstruct the city. Hidden bricks also were used to construct the Tacoma Hotel, which was a huge deal at the time: Tacoma Hotel

Unfortunately, the hotel burned in 1935 News Article:


Page 12 of the Hand Typed Hidden family history reveals that 40,000 hidden brick were loaded into a Schooner and used to build the Tillamook Lighthouse.

... Guess what? It's haunted. (There's another post coming about that...)

Hidden bricks went Astoria, Portland, even California. Hidden bricks went just about EVERYWHERE out here, turns out.

We spent about an hour and a half in the Museum researching the Hidden family. The energy feels welcome and inviting here, but one also definitely feels watched in the basement. In a building with so many important historical items, it is impossible to know if the activity reported here (people being touched in the bathroom, pipes banging) is related to the building itself or one of its housed artifacts.

Before we noticed the no voice recording sign (oops, we were alone in the basement library the entire time) I did a brief EVP session, as we didn't feel alone. There was nothing on the recorder, but an interesting note is it took several times to get the file to load into the software so that we could listen to it and kept crashing the laptop.

I plan on returning here to both dive deeper into Mother Joseph and the Providence Academy files and also the 400 unpublished Brautigan manuscripts here.

Treasures indeed, Hidden family. Thank you for the gift of this building. I'll be back soon.

Hidden Bricks: Urban Barnhouse

The best way to describe our trip to find out what is going on in the Urban Barnhouse at 1333 Washington St of Hidden Bricks would be a Hit and a Miss.  We were in and out in five minutes.

About the Barnhouse, from the Hidden family history file at the Historical Museum:

The building looks innocuous enough from the outside.

We started our journey into this area, obviously signed as an entrance. This part of the Barnhouse seems to be toiletries, bath and body items, gift type items. The Hidden bricks are completely exposed inside.

I should have been very excited to be able to be up close to the bricks, and Dave and I were the only customers in the store. Instead I felt nauseous, confused, and claustrophobic. I took photos inside anyway, and struck up a conversation with the employees there, as it became obvious I wasn't there to buy a candle or some CBD.

I introduced myself and explained I'd never been in before, but we just came from lunch at Hidden House around the corner and came to check out the building. They were very cordial and welcoming and were excited to hear about our awesome lunch. I thanked them for their time and Dave and I could not get out of that building fast enough.

Technically we were only in the smaller half of the building. We didn't set foot inside the larger part with the home goods and neither of us had any desire to be back inside the building at that point.

We mutually decided to take a break from creepy bricks for a few and headed into a nearby vintage store which ended up being an interesting Synchronicity in action.

Hidden Bricks: A Closer Look Hidden Houses of 13th Street

Today Dave and I went and had a delightful lunch at the recently reopened Hidden House, which is now open as a boutique grocery, deli and catering business. The food was delicious, and I'm happy to report much of the Hidden House interior from when it was in business as a Touch of Athens Greek Restaurant remains.

The Hidden House was also the first meeting place of our Alma Mater, Clark College.

Original details still here. 

An old photo of the Hidden House on the original fireplace

Carefully curated local products around a small, welcoming deli counter are inside. 

Original stained glass windows also remain.

Just inside the front door. Upstairs is currently catering only, but they plan on opening that to the public eventually as well.

Stairs upstairs from the dining room

The big, beautiful front window

View of the Hidden house from Main Street, looking West

This house has  been known for having a friendly haunting for decades. It is a stop on the yearly Vancouver Ghost Walk tours done by several local groups in the area. The running theory is that Julie Hidden, Daughter of Lowell, who liked to go door to door singing, is the source of the mysterious female singing voice that has been heard by dozens of people inside this building.

Here's a Columbian Article about the haunting HERE.

I pulled some Oracle cards to get the vibe of the building, as it had a warm, welcoming feel. I got the feeling the resident spirits are happy that the building is once again bursting with life, and the Oracle seemed to confirm this. I wish them the best of luck and success. After talking with the proprietors, they obviously are involved in this for the love of good food and the building itself. They very much want to share this special building with the public. 

I had a delicious Ginger Carrot Apple Coconut Milk soup and fruit salad. They informed me the salad is called "Fruit crack" and the lime and ginger among other secrets they have used proved the dish name worthy. 

Dave had a beautiful turkey salad. The chef told me the turkey is roasted in house for over three hours. 

The W. F Hidden house to the left in the background, view from corner of Main Street and 13th.

The overall vibe in the L.M. Hidden house continues to feel warm and inviting inside. I encourage locals to seek out this local gem.

View of the Hidden House, looking East

Between the Two Hidden Houses, we have a small dwelling called The Carriage House. There is small garden in front of this house. When I researched the Hidden Family at the Clark County Historical Museum I learned that the Garden of Remembrance between the two Hidden Houses is in honor of Mary Hidden (1847), Edith Hidden (1878) and Margaret A. Hidden (1910).

The small Carriage House is between the two Hidden Houses.

Hidden bricks on the back side of Carriage House

After lunch, we walked next door to get a closer look at the W. F. Hidden House. I learned a lot about W. F. Hidden and the rest of the Hidden Family at the Historical Museum from a donated Volume of Hidden Family History.

He was known for being extremely frugal, and he and his family grew all of their own food, had their own chicken coop and supplied their own eggs. Their fortune was tied up in property around the area, with Robert Hidden (son of W. Foster) calling them "land poor". Daughter Helen remarked: "We never felt rich, in fact, we were amongst the poorest kids in our class. Our money was invested....I did not have any store-bought things to wear until I was fifteen."

There were a few high quality photos inside the volume of L.M. and other members as well. Robert himself donated this family history.

You'd never guess by the look of the grand house that they struggled.

Front of the W. F. Hidden House, from 13th Street

Detail on the back of W. F. Hidden House 

I really like this staircase made of original Hidden Bricks

There's a small outbuilding behind the W. F. Hidden House that is also made of old Hidden Bricks. 

 Shed/Outbuilding behind W.F. Hidden House made of Hidden Bricks

W.F. Hidden House is a privately owned law office and not available to tour to the general public. 

We went several other places today to explore Hidden Bricks. Part Three soon.